Vision as a compensatory mechanism for disturbance rejection in upwind flight

Recent experimental results demonstrate that flies possess a robust tendency to orient towards the frontally-centered focus of the visual motion field that typically occurs during upwind flight. We present a closed loop flight model, with a control algorithm based on feedback of the location of the visual focus of contraction, which is affected by changes in wind direction. The feasibility of visually guided upwind orientation is demonstrated with a model derived from current understanding of the biomechanics and sensorimotor computation of insects. The matched filter approach used to model the visual system computations compares extremely well with open-loop experimental data.